AA / Pascal Mulegwa
The body of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died Friday in Barcelona, Spain, was autopsied over the weekend at the request of one of his daughters, who believes his father’s death is ‘suspicious’ , Angolan media reported on Monday.
The Carmen Varela family law firm, representing Tchizé dos Santos, daughter of the former President, said in a statement that it had requested that her father’s body be kept in Spain for an autopsy due to ” suspicious circumstances of his death.
Lawyers said a Spanish court had granted a family member’s request for the autopsy, which had not yet taken place, but provided no further details.
The deteriorating health of the former Angolan leader in June exposed the tensions existing within the Dos Santos family between his last wife Ana Paula and his 44-year-old daughter Tchizé dos Santos.
Tchizé dos Santos had filed a complaint in Spain a week before his father’s death for “attempted homicide”.
She accuses Ana Paula and her father’s personal doctor of being responsible for the deterioration of the former Angolan leader’s health. Her father had long been separated from Ana Paula.
Representing Dos Santos’ daughter, Tchizé dos Santos, earlier said she had requested that her father’s body be kept in Spain for a full autopsy due to “suspicious circumstances of his death” without providing evidence.
According to the office of Angolan President João Lourenço, his predecessor, who left power in 2017, died at the Teknon clinic in Barcelona where he was being treated following a long illness. He was 79 years old.
The clinic declined to comment on the autopsy request or details of his death.
Santos had been receiving medical treatment since 2019. Tchizé and his lawyers also argue that Dos Santos’ wish was to be buried in Barcelona rather than his body being sent back to Angola for a state funeral “which might favor the current government”, insists- she.
The Angolan government has declared a national mourning of 5 to 7 days from Saturday to honor his memory.
Although he was hand-picked by Dos Santos to succeed him, Lourenço quickly moved to investigate multi-billion dollar corruption allegations during the former president’s time, often involving the Dos Santos family. .
Rare in front of the media, Dos Santos died without ever answering allegations that he allowed corruption to become widespread in Angola, rich in oil and diamonds.
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